Scheduling and Estimating

The schedule isn't the project plan, but it's a core component of it. Estimating work and managing schedules is a core competency for any project manager. Here you'll find examples of project schedules, guidelines on how to develop an accurate and comprehensive project schedule, and resources to help you improve your task estimating across the team. Also see our Scheduling and Estimating Know-How.

Agile Technique Brief: Estimating
This agile approach to generating task estimates -- or "story points" -- makes a challenging task more fun and more accurate, by focusing more on relative feature sizes and actual production during a project iteration.

Pete's Estimating Laws
A loosely bound set of Universal Laws that provides the project manager with amusing reminders of possible influences on and errors encountered when estimating work on a project.

Scheduling and Plan Development

Resource Leveling using Microsoft Project
Guidelines for the complex and critical task of leveling the resources working on a project. Includes an overview of the general approaches, and detailed instructions for using the leveling features of MS Project.

Introduction to Software Release Trains
Key requirements and suggestions for successfully implementing release trains, along with observations and indicators to help you decide if release trains are right for your organization.

Planning and Scheduling: Create Project Plan Document
Guidelines for creating a project plan document providing project essentials like objectives, justification, and how the objectives are to be achieved, and describing how the project will be managed. Seventh in a series.

WBS Example: Marketing Project
This WBS and early schedule (in MS Project format) includes a work breakdown, general scheduling and dependencies, and preliminary resource allocation for planning a marketing project.

WBS Example: Market Research Planning
This WBS and early schedule (in MS Project format) includes a work breakdown, general scheduling and dependencies, and preliminary resource allocation for planning a market research project.

Renovation WBS and Draft Schedule
WBS and schedule example for an office renovation project, from design to move-in. This schedule illustrates decomposition of a complicated project into manageable work packages.

ISO 9000 Registration
Are you stretching toward ISO compliance in 2013? This WBS will help. It outlines a process for moving from initial exploration and gap analysis through registration and auditing. While specific to ISO, this four-level phase-based breakdown should be useful for any quality management or certification process.

Brochure Planning WBS and Schedule
Brochure creation is a great example of a simple project that can benefit from some simple work breakdown planning. This WBS in MS Project format includes general scheduling and dependencies, plus notes on the potential scheduling conflicts they raise.

Integrated Hardware/Software Mechanical WBS
This is a work breakdown structure in its purest form: All tasks, no dates. Developed for a mechanical hardware/software integration project, it runs from charter to installation without descending to an unmanageable level of detail.

WBS Example: Vendor Selection Project
This WBS and early schedule (in MS Project format) includes a work breakdown, general scheduling and dependencies, and preliminary resource allocation for a vendor selection project.

WBS Example: Consulting Planning
This WBS and early schedule (in MS Project format) includes a work breakdown, general scheduling and dependencies, and preliminary resource allocation for planning a new consulting engagement.

Software Application Development WBS
This WBS and schedule example for a software application development project, includes detailed notes for new software PMs, as well as a phase-based WBS from team formation to post-project review.

WBS Example: Presentation Planning
WBS and early schedule (in MS Project format) includes a work breakdown, general scheduling and dependencies, and preliminary resource allocation for planning a presentation or seminar event.

Commercial Construction WBS and Draft Schedule
WBS and schedule example for a commercial construction project, from demolition to doorknobs. This complex project illustrates breaking a years-long project into manageable work packages.

WBS and Project Schedule for House Construction
This Microsoft Project schedule for a home construction project includes a detailed work breakdown, general scheduling and dependencies, and high-level resource allocation. The WBS runs from the initial space planning work to site shutdown and computer relocation. Work packages are described for both the planning and construction phases.

User Manual Planning WBS and Schedule
As any technical writer can tell you, there's no such thing as "just" writing a user manual. This work breakdown in MS Project format includes notes on task estimates and resource allocation, and incorporates cross-functional tasks you could easily overlook.

WBS and Project Schedule for New Business Planning
This Microsoft Project schedule planning a new business launch includes a work breakdown, general scheduling and dependencies, resource allocation, and even beginning leveling information. The WBS runs from the initial corporate entity setup to production of marketing materials and hiring employees.

WBS for Electromechanical Systems Project
Task list/Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in Microsoft Project, from a multi-subsystem electromechanical development project, covering activities from the early planning phase through the end of the alpha and beta testing activities.

Party Planning WBS and Schedule
This WBS and schedule covers planning a party, from guest list to greetings. This would also make a good example for project management newcomers.

WBS Example: Planning a Holiday Dinner
Tongue-in-cheek example of applying project management to a product development with a small team -- by scheduling a holiday dinner with everything ready at the same time.

WBS for Large Network Software Project
WBS for a large-scale software project for a commercial data acquisition network; an example of a very thorough plan requiring many areas to change simultaneously before anything will work correctly again.